CHAPTER 23 _LOST IN THE HYACINTHS_
Mrs. Jones shaded her eyes from the slanting rays of the low-hung sun togaze for a long moment at the almost motionless hyacinth bed blanketingthe water.
"Right ye are, Penelope!" she exclaimed jubilantly. "The channel's plainto see now! Help me git to the boat, and we'll be out o' this tangle."
Once in the skiff, the widow again seized the paddle.
"We gotta inch our way along fer a little," she explained. "If we don'tfoller the drift o' the bed, we'll be lost agin and that hain't smart."
Steadily the widow shoved the little boat through the water plants,seldom hesitating in choice of the channel.
"I got the feel o' it agin!" she declared happily. "We'll be out o' thisin no time!"
However, dark shadows were deepening to blackness when the boat finallycame into water open enough to permit use of the motor. Propelled by theengine, the skiff presently approached Lookout Point.
"Let's paddle from here," proposed Penny. "Ezekiel and his sons may beout of the swamp by this time. We don't want them to see us or guesswhere we've been."
Mrs. Jones shut off the motor and with a tired sigh, offered the paddleto Penny. The channel now was plainly marked and easy to follow, even insemi-darkness. Whenever the girl hesitated, the widow told her which wayto steer.
"We're out of it now," Mrs. Jones said as lights of the Hawkins'farmhouse twinkled through the trees. "Reckon Trapper Joe's fit to betied, we been gone so long!"
Penny allowed the skiff to drift with the current. As it floated past theHawkins' dock, loud voices came from the direction of the woodshed.
"Sounds like an argument goin' on," observed the widow.
Penny brought the skiff in and made fast to the dock.
"What ye aimin' to do?" the widow inquired in surprise.
"Wait here!" Penny whispered. "I have a hunch what's going on and I mustfind out!" Before Mrs. Jones could protest, she slipped away into thedarkness.
Stealthily the girl approached the woodshed. A voice which she recognizedas Ezekiel's, now plainly could be heard.
"Danny, we've fed ye and kept ye here fer days in this woodshed, and ithain't safe!" the speaker said. "Ye gotta git out tonight--now--throughthe swamp. The river'll take ye out the other end, and ye maybe kin gitout o' the state."
"And maybe I'll be caught!" the other voice replied. Penny knew it wasDanny Deevers who spoke. "I'm staying right here!"
"Coon and Hod'll guide ye through the swamp, so ye'll be safe enough tillye git to the other side," Ezekiel argued. "We hain't keepin' ye hereanother day. You got clothes and food and a good chanst to git away."
Penny crept close to the wall of the woodshed. Peering through a small,dirty window on the far side she saw four men seated on kegs in a roomdimly lighted by a lantern.
The man facing her plainly was Danny Deevers. Opposite him were Ezekieland his two sons, both armed with rifles.
"Hain't no use talkin' any more," Ezekiel said flatly. "Ye'r leavin' heretonight, Danny. Maw's fixin' ye a lunch to take."
"Paw, hain't you forgittin' something?" Coon prodded his father.
"Hain't fergittin' nothin', Coon. Danny, 'fore you go, there's a mattero' money to be settled between us. Ye got $50,000 hid somewheres close,and we want our cut fer hidin' ye out from the police."
Danny laughed unpleasantly.
"You leeches won't get a penny! Not a penny! No one but me knows wherethat money is, and I'm not telling!"
"Then I calculate Hod and Coon cain't guide ye through the swamptonight," Ezekiel said coolly. "We got word today the police got a hintye'r here. We'll help 'em, by turning you in. Hod, git to the phone andcall Sheriff Burtwell. Tell 'im we cotched this feller hidin' in theswamp."
"You betcha!" Hod said with alacrity.
"Wait!" Danny stopped him before he could reach the door. "How much of acut do you dirty blackmailers want?"
"We don't like them words, Danny," Ezekiel said. "All we ask is a fairamount fer the risk we been takin' keepin' ye here."
"How much?"
"A third cut."
"I'll give you $10,000."
"'Tain't enough."
"You'll not get another cent. Take it or leave it. Turn me in if you wantto! You'll involve yourself because I'll swear you hid me here."
"We hain't aimin' to be hard on ye, Danny," Ezekiel said hastily. "If wewas to agree to the $10,000, kin ye deliver tonight?"
"In fifteen minutes!"
"Ye hain't got the money on ye or hid in the woodshed!"
"No."
"But it's somewheres close. I knowed that."
"If I give you $10,000, you'll guide me through the swamp and help me getaway?"
"We will," Ezekiel promised.
"Then get a spade," Danny directed. "The money's buried under a fencepost by the creek. I hid it there a year ago before they sent me up.Marked the post with a V-shaped slash of my jackknife."
"Git a spade, Hod," Ezekiel ordered.
Penny waited for no more. Stealing away, she ran to the boat where Mrs.Jones awaited her.
"No questions now!" she said tersely. "Just go as fast as you can andtelephone the police! Also call my father, Anthony Parker at the_Riverview Star_! Ask him to come here right away and bring help!"
"You've found Danny Deevers!" the widow guessed, preparing to cast off.
"Yes, and maybe the stolen money! But there's not a second to lose! Letme have your knife, and go as fast as you can!"
Without questioning the odd request, Mrs. Jones gave her the knife andseized a paddle. Penny shoved the skiff far out into the stream.
Then she turned and with a quick glance toward the woodshed, darted tothe nearby fence. Rapidly she examined the wooden posts, searching for aV-shaped mark. She could find no slashes of any kind. At any moment sheknew the men might emerge from the woodshed and see her.
"Somehow I've got to keep them here until Mrs. Jones brings the police!"she thought. "But how?"
Suddenly an idea came to her. It might not work, but there was an outsidechance it would. With desperate haste, she slashed several posts withV-shaped marks.
"That may confuse them for a few minutes," she reasoned. "But not forlong."
The door of the woodshed now had opened. Penny dropped flat in the tallweeds near the fence.
Without seeing her, the four men came with a spade and began to inspectposts scarcely a dozen yards from where the girl lay.
"Here's a marked one!" called Hod as he found one of the posts Penny hadslashed.
In the darkness the men did not notice that the cut was a fresh one. Theybegan to dig. Silently the work went on until a large hole had beenexcavated.
"Where's the money?" Ezekiel demanded. "Danny, if ye'r pullin' a fastone--"
"I tell you I buried it under a post!" the other insisted. "Thought itwas farther down the fence, but this one was marked."
Ezekiel flashed his lantern full on the post which now had been tiltedfar over on its side.
"The post's marked," he confirmed. "Fresh new slashes."
"Let's see!" Danny exclaimed. He examined the marking briefly andstraightened up. "I never made those cuts! Someone's tricked me!"
Excited by the discovery, the men now moved from post to post. Otherslashes were found.
"Here's the one with my mark!" Danny cried, pointing to a post close towhere Penny lay hidden. "Who slashed these others? Someone must havelearned where I buried the money!"
"It does look kinda bad," said Ezekiel. "But there hain't been no diggin'by this post. Git busy, boys!"
Taking turns, Coon and Hod fell to with the spade. Soon they haduncovered three large tin cans filled with bank notes.
"It's all here!" Danny said jubilantly. "Every dollar!"
Ezekiel blew out the lantern light, looking carefully about the yard."There hain't no time to divide the money now," he said. "We gotta gityou through th
e swamp, Danny, before them snoopin' police come around.Bring the cans and come on! We're moving out o' here right now!"
Hod shuffled off to get the boat ready as the others each picked up a canand followed quickly.